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This obituary is part of a series on people who have died in the coronavirus pandemic. Read about others here.
Bana Abdalla Ali, who tirelessly defended basketball in Somalia and promoted the sport among young people in a nation ravaged by civil war, died on April 28 in London. He was 54 years old.
Her death came after she contracted the new coronavirus, her family said. Mr. Ali had been treated at the Royal Free Hospital in London for almost a month.
Ali gained prominence for being a vocal defender of basketball in Somalia, spending not only his spare time but also your own money to ensure that the country’s players have their chance on the international stage. A basketball enthusiast and well-known player in Mogadishu before the civil war in Somalia began, he served as secretary general and chief marketing officer for the Somali national basketball team over the years, and was also a member of East and Central Africa . City Inter Basketball Committee. Mr. Ali was also a member of the Africa department of the International Basketball Federation, or FIBA Africa, which is part of the world governing body, FIBA, for sport. Just this year, FIBA Africa said that Mr. Ali had first helped achieve corporate sponsorship for the Somali Men’s Senior National Team, allowing him to travel to Kenya and participate in FIBA’s AfroBasket 2021 Prequalifiers.
The federation also said Ali was finalizing a plan that would ensure that both men’s and women’s basketball players in Somalia participate in all of their continental activities, including the under-18 qualifiers. Somalia’s civil war severely damaged sports infrastructure, and religious extremists also banned women from participating in sports. But as the country has moved towards peace in recent years, Many sports, including basketball, have been revived with teams of men and women practicing and playing on courts guarded by government forces.
Ali was born on January 11, 1966 in Mogadishu and completed his primary and secondary education in the capital city. He moved to Britain in 1990 and studied engineering at Middlesex University. For years, he worked as a manager at Transport for London, the government agency that oversees the day-to-day operations of the London transport network.
He is survived by his wife, Muna Hared; a daughter, Aaliyah; and three children, Abdalla, Amir and Omar.
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